


Heaven's Light

by PortalPanda



Category: Portal (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-13
Updated: 2017-12-13
Packaged: 2019-02-14 03:21:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 534
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12998754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PortalPanda/pseuds/PortalPanda
Summary: Doug and Chell watch The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Chellmann oneshot.





	Heaven's Light

**Author's Note:**

  * For [actingwithportals](https://archiveofourown.org/users/actingwithportals/gifts).



Doug sat at the opposite end of the couch from Chell, curled up with a blanket as he watched her watch the movie. The film was enjoyable, an old animated VHS tape with gorgeous animation, and characters that were almost alarmingly relatable-- but he was still a tad uneasy (having only recently recovered-- or begun recovering-- and having only started living with Chell a little sooner than that), still adjusting to his new environment (and Chell being in it), and so he alternated between watching Chell's reactions to the film and the film itself.

Her cadence softened as a tune began to play on screen, a lazy smile touching her lips as she snuggled deeper into the couch.

_ So many times out there _ __  
_ I've watched a happy pair of lovers walking in the night _ __  
_ They had a kind of glow around them _ __  
_ It almost looked like heaven's light _ __  


Doug instinctively looked away from Chell at that, his gaze snapping back to the screen. 

The thought was pleasant in the most painful way possible: memories of seeing happy couples out and about, blissfully lost in that loving glow, and being happy for them while knowing he would never be happy in that way. 

(But he  _ wanted  _ to be. Even now, and more recently as of late, he found himself drawing couples instead of solitary figures.)

_ I knew I'd never know that warm and loving glow _ __  
_ Though I might wish with all my might _ __  
_ No face as hideous as my face _ __  
_ Was ever meant for heaven's light _ __  


Doug was too broken for anyone to love. He had accepted that as fact long before he started working at Aperture, and since then it had only become more true. 

He was plagued by voices, and nightmares, and memories of the horrible things he had seen and done. He was thin, and frail, and scruffy looking, with wild hair and mismatched eyes and dozens of scars. He must've been a frightening sight, and he was no better off on the inside. 

No one could ever--

_ But suddenly an angel has smiled at me _ __  
_ And kissed my cheek without a trace of fright _ __  


An angel. 

Doug had always thought of Chell as his angel. 

She had saved him more times than he could count, from Her and himself. For so many years she was the sole reason for his existence. The reason he kept going. After the Shed spat him out (years after it did the same to her) she found him in the hospital, and together they laughed and cried as she held him and squeezed his hand too hard. Chell had stayed beside him ever since-- had even invited him into her home.

_ I dare to dream that she might even care for me _ __  
_ And as I ring these bells tonight _ __  
_ My cold dark tower seems so bright _ __  


As instinctively as Doug’s gaze had left Chell before it returned, and now it was her who was watching him. She still wore that gentle smile, her eyes alight with something warm-- and as her fingers entwined with his there was a sound of bells, and he swore the world seemed to glow.

_ I swear it must be Heaven's light _


End file.
